


Coast to Coast

by Rhiannon87



Series: Words With Friends [2]
Category: Uncharted
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Phone Calls, long distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhiannon87/pseuds/Rhiannon87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once Elena finds out who her contact is, well, she can't just leave Nate out of the loop. Side-story to <i>Other Lines of Work</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coast to Coast

Elena sprawls out on her bed in the hotel room, her phone loosely held to one ear. It's early enough that Nate should still be awake on the other side of the country. The phone keeps ringing, though, and she looks at her watch again, double-checking her math on the time zones. Should be just after ten in Miami, and they almost never go to bed before eleven...

“Hey!” Nate answers the phone, sounding a little out of breath. “Sorry, I was in the shower.”

Elena laughs. “Do you need to dry off or anything?”

“Nah, I'm good,” he says. “Your flight go okay?”

“Yeah, it was fine.” She shakes her head. “I, uh, might be out here a little longer than expected, though. This story's a bit bigger than I thought. And you will _never_ believe who my contact is.”

He chuckles. “Try me.”

“Chloe.”

There's a long, long silence on the other end of the line. Elena smirks at the ceiling and waits. “Ho-ly shit,” Nate finally says. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“What the hell is she doing in Sacramento?”

“Working as a chauffeur, apparently,” Elena replies. Nate snickers. “Yeah, that was about my reaction.”

“Does she have to wear one of those silly hats?” Nate asks.

“I think so.”

The snickers turn into full-on cackling. “If you see her in uniform _please_ get me a picture,” he says. “I will treasure it forever.”

Elena rolls her eyes. “I'll see what I can do,” she lies. She's not actually going to take a picture of Chloe for Nate's amusement.

“So what's going on?” Nate asks. “Do you need backup?”

“ _No_ ,” Elena says immediately. “No, I do not. Chloe's got a friend out here who's gotten into some trouble with their mutual employer. There's blackmail and possible embezzlement of state funds. I'll have to look into it.”

“State funds?” Nate repeats. “Who's she working for?”

Elena sighs. “The lieutenant governor of California.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah. Pretty much.” She shakes her head. “Like I said, bigger story than I thought. I might be out here more than a week, depending on how deep this all goes.”

Nate makes a disappointed humming sound. “You sure you don't want me to come out there?”

“And do what, exactly?”

“Keep your bed warm?” Nate replies, and she can hear him grinning. “I dunno, I could help with research or something.”

Elena laughs and shakes her head. “Much as I appreciate the offer, no. I've got some contacts out here that I can lean on. And Chloe might be able to get me some more information, too.”

“All right.” He sounds disappointed, and Elena has a sneaking suspicion that this isn't going to be the last time they have this discussion about him wanting to 'help.'

“Got any plans for the rest of the week?” Elena asks, changing the subject.

“Sully wants me to help him with the boat sometime,” Nate says. “Otherwise, not much. Still doing some research on those ruins in Austria.”

“Well, let me know if you're suddenly flying off to Europe,” she says.

“I will.”

Elena sighs and looks at her watch again. “I should probably go,” she says. “Need to get some work done before I go to bed.”

“And I need to stop dripping water all over the floor,” Nate says. “You’ll keep me posted, right?”

“Of course.” Elena smiles. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She hangs up and drops the phone to the bed beside her, then rubs a hand over her face. “Okay,” she mumbles and sits up after a few moments. Time to get to work.

*

Someday, Elena vows, she will figure out a way to get her two favorite types of food on the same coast. Miami has _incredible_ Cuban food, but California has In-n-Out Burger. She takes another messy bite of delicious, delicious cheeseburger and sighs happily. She should start a letter-writing campaign, get them to open a branch in Miami. It’s not fair that the West Coast be the only ones to enjoy this.

She wipes her hands off on a napkin and picks up her phone again. Time to update Nate so he doesn’t decide that things have gone horribly wrong out here and hop on the next plane to Sacramento. She pokes at her phone with one hand and manages to be in the middle of taking a drink when Nate answers. “Hey, you!”

Elena coughs slightly and puts her drink down. “Hey.” She can hear the faint but distinct murmur of a crowd in the background of the call. “Where are you?”

“Out with Sully,” Nate says. The noise vanishes suddenly, and he sighs. “You just gave me the perfect excuse to escape from watching him pick up twenty-year-olds.”

“They can’t actually be twenty,” Elena says.

“I dunno, you can get some damn good fake IDs these days,” Nate replies. “How’s California? Everything going okay?”

Elena shrugs. “Yeah, more or less,” she says. “Just got off the phone with Chloe. Apparently you’re allergic to peanuts.”

“I’m what?”

She laughs and explains the conversation with Chloe. “She’s really protective of her friend, and I guess a peanut allergy was the strongest denial she could think of,” she concludes.

Nate huffs out a laugh. “So you have no idea who this friend is?”

“None whatsoever,” Elena replies. “It’s making my job a little harder, honestly, but I can’t say I blame her.”

“Hm.” Nate’s quiet for a second. “There’s not many people that she’d go to this much trouble for,” he says. “Charlie, probably.”

“And you.”

“Mm, maybe,” he says. “I might’ve burned through the rest of my goodwill with her in—in Syria.”

Elena manages to internalize a sigh. The subject of their separation is still a painful one, though it’s a rare subject these days. But more than that, it’s hard to hear that Nate’s still struggling with the idea that his loved ones do, in fact, love him. “I doubt that,” she says, forcing herself to sound cheery. “In any case, it’s slow going out here.”

“Still don't know when you’ll be back?”

“Late next week, if I’m lucky.”

Nate sighs. “You sure you don’t want me to come out there?”

“Yes.” Elena rolls her eyes. “I can handle this on my own.”

“I’m not even talking about helping anymore,” he says. “I just miss you.”

Elena smiles wryly at nothing. “I know,” she says. “I miss you too.”

“Would you want to tag along when I take this trip to Austria?” Nate asks, abruptly changing the subject.

She shrugs. “Sure, if I’m back by then,” she replies. “And if I don’t have to do much follow-up on this story.” She has a feeling that the local press will quite happily snatch coverage away from her, which is fine. She doesn’t have much interest in covering the press conferences and denials and indictments and resignations and so on. Her job usually involves starting the fire; other people can watch it burn.

“I’m not leaving until you get back,” Nate says. “I don’t want to wind up not seeing you for three weeks straight or something.”

“Yeah, that sucked last time,” Elena agrees. “Your treasure isn’t going anywhere?”

“Doubtful. I--” Nate stops, then pulls the phone away from his mouth as he speaks to someone else. Even before he puts it back, Elena can hear his long-suffering sigh. “Sorry,” he says. “Sully came over to give me the keys, as he’s leaving with someone else.”

“Blonde?”

“Brunette,” Nate replies. “And not younger than me, which is kind of shocking.”

Elena snorts. “Well, good for him, I suppose,” she says.

“I’d be happier for him if _I_ wasn’t going home to an empty bed,” Nate grumbles.

“You’ll live,” Elena replies dryly. It wasn’t like she was enjoying the separation from him, either. She hears the chime of a car door opening on Nate’s end of the call. “I should let you go so you can drive home.”

“Yeah,” Nate says. “Say hi to Chloe for me.”

“Will do.”

*

“I'll talk to you soon,” Elena says as she shuts the door behind Chloe. She huffs out a breath and goes back to her desk, picks up her phone and pokes at it until she gets the right number.

“Hey!” Nate answers brightly. “I wasn't expecting to hear from you until tonight!”

“Why do your friends think it's okay to break into people's hotel rooms?”

It takes Nate a second to respond. “What?”

“Chloe broke into my hotel room because I wasn't answering my phone,” she says.

“Oh,” Nate says, in a tone that implies this is perfectly unsurprising and perhaps reasonable behavior. “Why weren't you answering your phone?”

Elena rolls her eyes and drops into the chair by the desk. “The battery died,” she says. “I've got it charging now, but I think I'm gonna have to replace it.” Nate starts to say something, probably ask if she means the phone or the battery, but she talks over him. “You can't seriously think that breaking into my room is normal.”

She can hear him smirking when he replies. “I've done it a few times.”

“Yeah, but, it's less weird when it's you,” Elena says. Still weird, but she sort of expects Nate to just let himself in if he randomly shows up in whatever city she's in. “I don't even know how she found where I'm staying in the first place.”

“Chloe's resourceful,” Nate replies. “So was there a reason she broke into your room, or did she just want to say hi?”

Elena sighs and rubs her hand over her forehead. “Her friend got arrested.”

“What!?”

“Yeah,” she says, dropping her hand. “I had the story wrapped up, too. I was gonna get a camera crew up here, shoot some footage, arrange some formal interviews... figured I'd be home in a few days.”

Nate groans. “And now?”

“I don't know,” Elena says. “Gretchen's-- her friend-- been framed for blackmail, which is just horribly ironic, and we need to figure out a way to clear her name.”

Nate makes a faint 'huh' sound. “Wouldn't getting the governor--”

“Lieutenant governor.”

“--arrested for stealing money make the problem go away?”

“Not necessarily,” Elena says. “And not fast enough. They might eventually work out that she was framed, but who knows how long she'd be stuck bouncing around the legal system before then?” She shakes her head. “I think Chloe and I can find evidence that she was framed. And then I can just fold that into my story-- corrupt lieutenant governor steals state funds, then frames an employee for blackmail when it looks like his crimes are going to be revealed.” Elena allows herself a satisfied smile. This is why she does her job. It's a small thing, removing one corrupt official in a world rife with them, but it will help. She's making some kind of difference.

“And you take down another bad guy,” Nate says, sounding proud. “So... no idea when you'll be home, still?”

Elena shakes her head. “Less than a week,” she says. Then, after a moment, adds, “I hope.” Nate heaves a mournful sigh. She smiles wryly and runs her fingers along the edge of the desk. “Once I get back, we'll fly off to Europe for a couple weeks,” she says. “Just you and me.”

“And whatever treasure there is to find,” Nate says.

She nods. “I should probably go,” she says. “The sooner I get this done, the sooner I'll be home.”

“Yeah, okay,” Nate says. “Love you.”

“Love you, too. I'll talk to you soon.”

“Okay.”

*

Elena Fisher: You should have the news on in about five minutes.

_Message sent: 6:55 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: you on?

_Message received:_ _6:55 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: No, I just think you should be more politically aware.

_Message sent: 6:57 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: i know who the pres is

_Message received: 6:58 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: That’s only so you can answer questions correctly to prove you don’t have a brain injury.

_Message sent: 6:59 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: hey ur on tv

_Message received: 7:04 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: image_1604.jpg

_Message sent: 7:06 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: dont give me that look

_Message received: 7:07 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: youll b home soon?

_Message received: 7:07 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: My flight leaves at about 10 tomorrow morning.

_Message sent: 7:08 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: when does it land ill pick u up

_Message received: 7:08 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: Around 9:30 p.m. I have a layover in Houston.

_Message sent: 7:08 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: ok i will see u then

_Message received: 7:09 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: if u see chloe bfre u leave tell her i said hi

_Message received: 7:09 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: We’re going out for drinks tonight, so I will.

_Message sent: 7:10 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: cool see u tmrw

_Message received: 7:10 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: <3

_Message received: 7:13 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: Did it really take you that long to figure out how to send a heart?

_Message sent: 7:13 p.m._

 

Nathan Drake: no shut up

_Message received: 7:13 p.m._

 

Elena Fisher: I love you too.

_Message sent: 7:14 p.m._

 

*

Nate startles awake, automatically reaching for the nightstand before he's even really aware of what woke him. His phone is buzzing against the wood, and he fumbles at it in the dark before managing to answer. “Hello?” he mumbles.

“Hi!” Elena says brightly.

He frowns. “'lena?” He glances over at the clock, and it takes a couple seconds for the time to process. 3:04 a.m. She doesn't _sound_ upset, but he's not sure why she'd call at three in the damn morning. “Everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah, everything's fine,” she says. Nate blinks. She sounds like she's slurring her words a bit. “We're fine. We're great!”

Another confused blink. “'We?'”

“Me an' Chloe.”

Oh, god. Nate covers his eyes with his free hand and groans. “Elena, did you drunk dial me?”

“Nooooo,” she says and giggles. “I'm calling you back!”

It takes a second for him to work out what she's talking about-- he'd called her before going to bed, but the call had gone to voice mail. He doesn't like leaving messages unless it’s really important, and Elena hates listening to voice mail, so he'd just hung up. And apparently she'd noticed the missed call at three in the morning. Or, well, midnight, her time. “It's three a.m. here,” he says, sounding pained.

There's a brief pause. “Oops?” Elena says. Nate can hear Chloe's voice in the background. “Nate,” Elena says, and Nate guesses that she's answering a question. “He called me, so I called him back--”

He hears a rustling noise, then Chloe speaks, apparently having taken the phone away from Elena. “I'm sorry, Nate,” she says, and she doesn't sound exactly sober either. “I didn't know what would happen if I let your wife have tequila.”

Nate groans. “You let her have tequila!?”

“She said she never gets to have it because you and Sully hate it,” Chloe replies, and he can just hear her smirking. “And then she told me a really entertaining story about the two of you getting miserably conned that I'm desperately hoping is true.”

He heaves a sigh. “Yes, it's true,” he grumbles. “So much for my dignity.”

“As if you had much to begin with,” Chloe teases. “Here, Elena wants her phone back.”

“Hey,” Elena says, still annoyingly cheerful. “Chloe's gonna get a cab, so I'm gonna go.” She pauses for a second. “Did you need something when you called earlier?”

Nate shakes his head. “Just wanted to say hi,” he says. Even though she'll be home tomorrow-- or today, technically-- he's still missed her, wanted to talk to her before he went to bed.

“Oh. Um, hi?”

He chuckles. God, she's a ridiculous drunk. “Hi.”

“Okay, I gotta go,” Elena says abruptly. Maybe Chloe managed to snag a cab already? “See you tomorrow. I love you.”

Despite his exhaustion and annoyance, he still smiles at that. “Love you, too,” he says. “Even when you wake me up at three in the morning.”

“Sorry,” she says, sounding a bit sheepish. “See you soon.”

“Yeah. See you.” He hangs up and drops the phone back on the nightstand without looking. It hits the edge and falls to the floor. Nate decides that he doesn't care at all right now, then rolls over to bury his face in the pillow. Back to sleep. She'll be home tomorrow, and with any luck, she won't be _too_ hungover when he picks her up.


End file.
